


Learning Curve

by Leahelisabeth (fortheloveofcamelot)



Series: Taking in Strays [2]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Family, Fluff, Found Family, M/M, Menstruation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-19 10:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10637739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortheloveofcamelot/pseuds/Leahelisabeth
Summary: Neil has no idea how to be a dad.  Five times Neil gets in way over his head and calls the women of the Foxes for help and one time he had it handled.





	1. Chapter 1

There were a lot of huge adjustments to taking in a preteen girl that Neil wished he had considered before making such a big decision. He liked to think that he still would have made the same choice. He knows that he still would have made the same choice. It is absolutely intolerable to think of doing nothing while Angel stayed in that house with douchebag Greg, but there are so many things that he and Andrew simply hadn’t thought of. Privacy was a big one. When Andrew was in the mood, he was in the mood and it usually didn’t matter what room in the house they were in or what they were doing, Andrew would come up to Neil, close enough to feel the body heat between them, but not quite close enough to touch, whisper “yes or no,” and then kiss until the sink overflowed or the food in the oven started to smoke. They watched TV in the evenings but Neil still didn’t really care for it and Andrew was often easily distracted by the skin that Neil was much more comfortable exposing in the privacy of their own home.

But now, every time they turn around, she’s there. Andrew says she is making up for lost time, that she is taking up space now because she knows that she can. So she sets the table for dinner and chops the salad in the kitchen. She dries the dishes when Neil washes them. She sprawls out on the floor and makes them watch chick flicks. Neil thinks Andrew secretly enjoys them so he doesn’t complain. And it’s really good. She chatters at both of them and Neil only rarely misses the silence. But if he’s honest, he misses wearing his favourite pair of booty shorts around the house, and the heat in Andrew’s eyes when he ambushes him in them, and the way that Andrew tackles him without a question because those shorts couldn’t be a more obvious “yes.”

Neil is immediately suspicious when he gets home from the grocery store on a Saturday morning and she isn’t running out the door to help him unload the car. Renee is visiting them for the rest of the weekend and she’ll be there for lunch and he really needs to get started on it. She insisted on coming out as soon as she had the opportunity to meet the newest member of the Foxes’ family, as everyone was calling Angel. He drops the groceries on the counter and goes to knock on Angel’s door. She opens it as he is reaching out to knock and he is taken aback by her tear streaked face above the bundle of bloodstained sheets in her arms.

“What the fuck?” Neil starts. He breaks off immediately as she flinches. And suddenly it’s getting hard to breathe. He bats the bundle of sheets out of her arms onto the floor, uncaring if they stain that carpet and he’s holding her by the shoulders and doing a visual inspection.

“What happened? Are you hurt? Did someone hurt you? Where’s Andrew?” And suddenly everything goes white and when Neil comes back to himself, he is kneeling on the carpet and holding onto her way too tightly and she is squirming to get free.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she sobs. “I didn’t know what it would be like and I don’t have anything.”

Neil finally manages to let go of her and figure out what she is talking about. “Wait? Are you...menstruating?”

Angel just gets really red in the face and nods.  
“Shit,” Neil says. “Is this your first time?”

She nods again and keeps crying. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make a mess.”

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” Neil pulls her awkwardly back in for a hug. “I’m not mad at you for making a mess. I was just worried because of the blood. Why don’t you go and take a really long shower. I’ll go put this in the laundry and then we can figure out what to do.”

She sniffs and heads back into her room to grab some new clothes and Neil picks the sheets up off the floor. He sets them to soak in cold water in the laundry room and then just stands there for a little while looking at the water turning red and feeling so completely out of his depth. He is about to head upstairs to figure out how Andrew possibly slept through all the drama

After a few more minutes, he realises that Angel cannot just stay in the shower for the next week and he probably should not be standing around like a useless lump. He pulls out his phone and dials.

“Renee? Yeah, are you going to get here soon? Can you bring girl stuff? You know...stuff...for...are you going to make me say it when you obviously know what I mean? Thanks. See you in a few.” Neil hangs up and takes a slow unsteady breath. If he closes his eyes, he can still see the blood on the sheets, and everything in him is screaming that it isn’t safe, that someone has caught up to him, that they’re going to destroy his found family and that he needs to run. It’s the thought of the three pints of ice cream for Andrew sitting on the counter and melting that finally gets him moving upstairs to put the groceries away. He loses a little bit of time and then he’s just standing, looking at the ingredients for the lunch he planned when Renee walks in the door that he forgot to lock.

“Put those away,” she said breezily. “Andrew dropped me off and he’s going back out to get pizzas. Is Angel upstairs?”

Neil just stared at her for a moment before finally speaking. “She’s upstairs in the shower,” he croaks.

Neil mechanically puts the rest of the groceries away as Renee runs up the stairs and knocks on the bathroom door.

“Angel, honey? I’ve got some things for you here. I’ll just leave them outside the bathroom for when you’re done showering.” She sounds so sweet and Neil suddenly feels so inadequate. Renee comes back down the stairs and pushes Neil down to sit at the table. She bustles around the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee and getting plates down for the table. By the time Andrew gets back with the pizza, Neil is much calmer and Angel has ventured down the stairs to sit across from Neil at the table. She is wearing a brand new pair of pyjama pants, black with orange paw prints and super fuzzy. She’s also wearing an oversized hoodie with “Minyard 03” printed on the back. It looks an awful lot like the sweater Andrew had taken with him this morning when he went to go to the airport. She looks better and Neil breathes a huge sigh of relief. 

Renee comes over and sits on one of the sides between Neil and Angel and sets down a cup of tea on the table in front of Angel. “It’s got rosehips in it. Some people say those help. I don’t know if it’s true but it can’t hurt.”

Andrew looks at Neil as he sets the pizza down on the table. He looks amused at first but takes a closer look and then comes to stand behind Neil, planting both hands solidly on Neil’s shoulders and Neil finally feels the last of the panic from the morning leave him and he can relax.

Angel still looks a little skittish, as if she isn’t sure that Neil won’t still blow up at her for making a mess. He smiles at her as he passes the rest of the Hawaiian pizza from Andrew to Angel while he and Renee work on the Greek pizza. Renee chats lightly about her imminent departure for the Peace Corps and makes Angel laugh with stories about the Foxes and Neil and Andrew’s university years.

After lunch, Renee pulls out her well-worn copy of _Mean Girls _and Andrew produces a gigantic bar of milk chocolate and pulls Angel into the living room to put the movie on. Renee and Neil hang back and Neil smiles fondly as his family gets settled on the couch, Andrew in the corner, Angel snuggled under a blanket with her head pillowed on his thigh, opening her mouth as he feeds her squares of milk chocolate. Neil marvels at the casual way Andrew lets her in, knowing how long it had taken for his partner to be okay with touch in any context. And even when Angel moved with them, he had always thought they would be like big brothers or cool uncles, but suddenly he can see Andrew as a dad and he honestly has never even thought to picture either of them in that role. Startled, he looks at Renee.__

__“You’ve got a good thing here, Josten,” Renee grins_ _

__“Don’t fuck it up?” he asks weakly._ _

__“I think you’ve got this,” Renee says as she slings an arm casually over his shoulders._ _

__“Thank you,” Neil says, turning to give her a proper hug. And then they walk the rest of the way into the living room. Renee snuggles up into the armchair and Neil sneaks in under Angel’s feet at the other end of the couch. He turns his attention to the TV and finds himself letting out a startled laugh a few minutes later. As movies go, this one isn’t too bad._ _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel is going to her very first high school dance. Neil gets Dan and Allison to help him make it the perfect evening.

The first few weeks that Angel came to live with them, she would knock on the door before coming in. It didn’t matter how many times Andrew or Neil told her that she could call their place home, she still tiptoed around them like she was visiting. She wasn’t shy with them at all, but she was always polite and respectful and every little bit of mess was quickly tidied up and she always rushed to start the dishes after every meal and do her share of the laundry.

And so Neil breathed a sigh of relief when, after she had been in their home for just shy of two months, she burst into the house like she was taking center stage, tossed her book bag onto the armchair, flopped dramatically down beside Sir, and sighed as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders.

“Middle school drama?” Andrew asks from his corner of the couch.

“Ugh, you have no idea,” Angel groans. “The high school is putting on a fall formal in two weeks and Allysia’s mom is a teacher at the high school and Allysia really wants to go to the dance so her mom pulled some strings so that the oldest class in middle school could go as an ‘introduction to high school.”

“Sounds perfectly awful,” Andrew grimaced.

“Did you ever go to one?” she asked.

“Didn’t have dances in juvie,” Andrew said evenly.

Angel opened her mouth as if to ask him more but thought better of it. Andrew had given her bits and pieces of his background since she had moved in but nothing made him clam up faster than follow-up questions.

“What about you, Neil?” She rolled over to look at him and cradled Sir on her stomach.

“Once,” Neil said. “And it wasn’t great. Mom said I couldn’t go so I snuck out, just to see what it was like. I was too nervous to dance with anyone and I just stood in a corner drinking punch and worrying about what would happen when I got home. I never tried it again.”

“Simple solution,” Andrew said. “You don’t have to go.”

Angel pouted and slung her arm across her eyes to hide her face. “That’s what Allysia said too. And that if I was really determined to go, I should wear a black dress and stand in a corner so no one could see me because she’s worried that I’ll hurt the reputation of the class.”

“She said what,” Andrew said flatly.

“She says she wants the high school boys to think our class is really cool and mature,” Angel almost whispered.

“Do you want me to kill her for you?” Andrew said nonchalantly, studying his fingernails.

Angel sat up suddenly, reached over and hugged Andrew around the knees. 

“Andrew is joking,” Neil rolled his eyes. “At least, I hope he is joking. But he’s right, we’re not going to let her get away with this. I can’t believe she told you to stand in the corner. What a bitch!”

Angel smiled up at both of them. “So I really want to go and I want to wear the brightest dress I can find to really rub it in her face.”

Neil laughed out loud. “That’s my girl.”

She looked up at them, suddenly shy again. “So I know I don’t have any money or anything and you guys have already given me so much stuff but I will do all the dishes and laundry and help you with all of the cooking until you think I’ve done enough to pay you back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Andrew scoffs. “We’re going to buy you an incredible dress so you can rub it in that girl’s face and you don’t have to pay us back for it. In fact, Neil’s going to take you out right now to shop.”

“What?” Neil squawked.

Andrew grinned menacingly. “I’ve tried to teach you about fashion and now it’s exam time. Let’s see how you perform when the pressure is on.”

Neil just gaped at Andrew. But Andrew stood firm and, not even an hour later, he and Angel were driving the car downtown to look at dresses. It wasn’t as bad as he feared. He pretty much just drove the car and offered a thumbs up or thumbs down as Angel tried on dresses. It felt like forever but probably was only an hour before they settled on a sleeveless, knee length dress in eye watering shades of pink and orange that looked stunning against Angel’s rich black complexion. They also quickly found shoes to match, pink and covered in rhinestones.

Once they were back in the car, Neil didn’t start it right away. “Is there anything else we need while we’re downtown? Do you need jewellery too?”

“I’m going to wear my mom’s diamond necklace. I don’t think anyone else in the class is going to be wearing real diamonds. And my ears aren’t pierced yet so I don’t need earrings,” Angel said pragmatically.

“Do you want to get your ears pierced?” Neil asked, only half joking.

Angel looked at him startled. “Not yet,” she said after a moment’s hesitation.

“Ok,” Neil said, thinking hard to himself about how Dan usually looked at parties. “What about your hair? Should we book an appointment at a hair salon.”

“I...I don’t…” she tried to flatten her hair to her head but it sprung back up the moment she took her hands away. “Maybe I’ll just wear a scarf. Scarves are pretty.”

“Your hair is pretty too,” Neil said awkwardly.

“You’re really nice, Neil. You don’t have to lie. It’s not smooth or shiny or straight. I know I’m ugly,” Angel looked out the window.

“You’re not ugly,” Neil protested. But Angel was ignoring him and he honestly had no idea what he could say to make her believe him.

They ate in front of the TV that night. Angel seemed mostly back to her old self. She modeled the dress for Andrew and he had a small smile for her as she twirled in front of him. But Neil also noticed that when she changed after, she wrapped herself up in the old hoodie she had stolen from Andrew and she wore the hood up with the drawstring pulled tight.

Later, after they all went to bed, Neil lay on his back and dialed Dan’s number. “Dan,I fucked up,” he exclaimed as soon as she answered.

Dan sighed. “What did you do?”

“I took Angel shopping for a dress for the dance and I asked her what we should do about her hair and she just clammed up. She thinks she’s ugly! And she won’t listen to me! How do I make her feel pretty for the dance?”

Dan huffs out a single breath and Neil suddenly has the feeling she is laughing at him.

“Don’t laugh,” Neil moaned. “This is serious. What if I shattered her self esteem forever?”

“Don’t be such a drama queen, Josten,” Dan laughed outright. “You have a home game this weekend, right?”

Neil nodded and then confirmed it out loud a few seconds later.

“Alright, here’s the plan. I’ve got the weekend off because we don’t have a game this weekend and Johnson owes me plenty of days off considering how often I run practices for him when he’s hungover. He can do without his assistant for a couple of days. On your day off after the game, you’re going to come and hang out in my hotel room and we are going to handle this,” Dan said.

“Thanks, Dan.” Neil let out a huge breath of relief. Andrew took that as his cue to hold his hand a half inch above Neil’s clothed crotch and raise one eyebrow in silent question.

“Holy shit.” Neil almost dropped the phone. “I’ve gotta...I’ll talk…later...yeah.”

Dan laughed. “Don’t bring Andrew. I need you to be able to focus.”

“Yes,” Neil gasped, not really sure who he was talking to. His breath left him in a rush as Andrew finally touched him. Neil somehow managed to hang up the phone. He was too busy to worry about Angel for the rest of the night.

* * *

Neil knocked on Dan’s hotel room door bright and early on Saturday morning. Allison opened the door and pulled him in. Neil gaped at her.

“That’s not much of a welcome,” Allison chided him.

“Oh, sorry,” Neil said, pulling her into a firm hug just the way she taught him. “Hello Allison, how are you?”

“You’re getting better at that,” she smiled. “But no need to be so formal with me, Neil darling.”

Neil grinned at her, “I didn’t know you were going to be here. Where’s Dan?”

“You think I could let you navigate the gauntlet of high school dances without me? Your daughter will totally thank me,” Allison ruffled Neil’s hair.

“She’s not my daughter,” Neil mumbled, flushing red.

“Sure she is, the same way that you are my son.” Allison put her finger over Neil’s mouth when he tried to protest. “I’ve adopted you. Deal with it. And Dan is downstairs raiding the continental breakfast. We wanted to make sure we had something to snack on in the morning.”

Dan chose that moment to interrupt their reunion. “I’ve got bagels,” she sang.

Neil waited until she deposited the tray on the table and then hugged her just as tightly as he had hugged Allison.

“Are you ready, Neil,” Dan smirked.

“Um...yes? What are we doing exactly?” Neil replied.

“I am going to give you a crash course on styling natural hair,” Dan said. Neil shrank back as the two girls nudged each other and laughed.

“Do you know how to braid?” Dan asked.

Neil could only shake his head.

“I thought as much,” Dan nodded. “That’s why I brought Allison. I can give you the basics on her before upping the difficulty.”

Neil gulped but agreed. Allison sat in the chair in front of them and Dan started to walk Neil through a simple three strand braid. The process was not without it’s hiccups, including a frustrated outburst from Neil about five minutes in. (“How can you possibly do this without three hands?!!) But he was surprised at how quickly he started to pick it up. It was much more relaxing than he could have imagined, to have Allison’s silky blond hair slipping through his fingers. Then Dan started to teach him french braids and everything got way more difficult again. But she patiently repeated instructions and showed him over and over while Allison sat patiently, keeping up a steady stream of celebrity gossip and teasing him mercilessly when he pulled a little too hard. They broke for lunch because Neil’s hands were getting sore but jumped right back into it with cornrows after lunch. 

Neil was so tired his eyes were crossing but he was determined to master this skill. They broke again for supper and Neil fell asleep on one of the beds while waiting for the pizza to arrive.

Then finally, after supper, Dan brought out a basket full of hair products and switched places with Allison in the chair.

“Ok, Neil, this is going to be completely different because my hair is a different texture and so there are different ways of doing it well. But what I’m going to do is teach you one hairstyle that will look super cute on Angel and won’t be any more difficult than what I’ve already taught you. Are you ready for this?” Dan said.

Neil nodded and they began. It was immediately different and Neil felt out of his depth once more. But Dan patiently talked him through the different types of products to use, for moisturizing and for hold, and then through separating her hair into sections to work with it a little bit at a time. Neil knew he pulled her hair quite hard several times, but she never complained. She also talked him through a simple twist out for the rest of her hair to enhance the natural curls. Allison was there the whole time giving him tips and helping him figure out Dan’s directions. It was late by the time Dan deemed him ready and Neil was completely exhausted. Dan gave him one of her silk scarves and instructed him to wrap it around Angel’s hair before she went to bed. They both gave him big hugs and Allison drove his car back home so he didn’t fall asleep at the wheel and took a taxi back to the hotel.

For the rest of the week before the dance, Neil felt butterflies in his stomach every time he thought about doing Angel’s hair. Andrew’s hair was long enough on top to braid into cornrows and so every night after Angel went to bed, he would sit on the couch with Andrew between his knees on the floor and practice the movements until they were second nature. Andrew complained loudly but also nuzzled his head into Neil’s hand just like King soliciting for pats.

* * *

The day before the dance, Neil went to find Angel after her shower. “Can I play with your hair?” he asked.

Angel was confused by his request but sat down in the chair in the kitchen. Andrew watched it happen, a pint of cookie dough ice cream in his hand. Sometimes he would share spoonfuls with the two of them. Neil did his best to be gentle and it took him far longer than it would have taken Dan to moisturize and detangle and braid a couple sections across the front of her head and twist out the back sections. Then he wrapped the whole thing in the silk scarf and let out a sigh of relief.

Angel tugged at the scarf. “What did you do?”

“Can you wait until tomorrow?” Neil asked. “I want you to see it when it’s all done.”

Angel rolled her eyes and agreed and the scarf didn’t look tampered with the next day. Neil made her leave it on until afternoon when he checked the twists to see if they were dry enough before putting a little coconut oil on his fingertips and carefully separating out the curls. He then followed DAn’s directions to pile it on top of Angel’s head and pin it there. He then put a little product in the wispy curls that had escaped the braids at the front of her head so they were defined and framed her face prettily.

“Ok,” Neil took a deep breath in. “Do you want to see it?”

Angel nodded and Neil led her to the bathroom mirror. She looked at her reflection for a long moment. When she looked back at Neil, her eyes were full of tears.

“I’m sorry,” Neil panicked. “Is it awful? What can I do to fix it?”

Angel threw herself at him for a bone crushing hug. “It’s perfect. You’re the best, Neil.”

She went to her room for a little while and by the time she came back out, she was dressed and wearing her mom’s diamond necklace and wearing just a bit of bright blue eyeshadow. She twirled around for them again and Neil felt so proud, not just of himself for somehow learning to do hair, but also of her for going into a situation where she had already been rejected with her head held high and no apologies.

“I’ll be right back,” Andrew said abruptly, disappearing into their bedroom and reappearing a few minutes later in one of his press outfits and with his blond hair artfully tousled. “Are you ready to go?” he asked, extending his arm to Angel.

“Are you going?” she asked incredulously.

“Didn’t I tell you? I’m a chaperone,” Andrew smirked.

Neil wished he had thought to do that. But Andrew stepped forward and put his hand on the side of Neil’s neck, his thumb caressing his jaw. “You should get some rest. I know you’re tired.”

Neil wanted to protest but he could feel his eyes burning. He leaned forward and kissed Andrew firmly on the mouth. “We should get a picture before you go.”

Andrew rolled his eyes but he posed for one with Angel, her arm in his, and then for a silly selfie with all three of them.

Neil sent the photos to the Foxes group chat. He was overwhelmed with replies almost immediately.

(19:02) **Dan** : Well done, Neil! 

(19:02) **Allison** : my grandchild is so precious!!!1! the monster cleans up good 2 

(19:03) **Matt** : bros got skillzz 

There were more but Neil could already feel his eyes drooping. He curled up in Andrew’s corner of the couch and inhaled deeply. King and Sir both saw that he was still and pounced, King settling on his stomach and Sir lying right across his neck and occasionally flicking his tail at Neil’s nose. He slept there until he heard the door opening. 

He wrapped the blanket around himself and went to meet them in the kitchen. “How was it?” he yawned. 

“It was so awesome!” Angel shouted. “I danced with lots of people. The high school boys were really nice. And I danced with a bunch of the girls from my class and they said I was a good dancer and I think Kara and Ainsley want to come hang out after school sometime soon. But the best part is that every time a boy started to walk toward Allysia, Andrew glared at them until they went away. She didn’t dance with anyone. She just drank punch and she spilled some on her dress.” 

Neil laughed. “I hope you didn’t rub it in her face too much.” 

“Of course not,” Angel said, scandalized. “I brought her a napkin and helped her clean up in the bathroom. It’s not her fault her mom is a nightmare. I don’t think we’re going to be friends but I think we can be nice to each other now.” 

Neil smiled and yawned again. “You should go get ready for bed.” 

Angel nodded and turned to head toward the stairs. She turned back before she reached them and rushed back to hug them both tightly. “Thanks,” she whispered and ran upstairs to her room. 

Neil just gazed at Andrew, enjoying the moment to themselves. 

“193%,” Andrew said clearly before taking Neil by the hand and leading him to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This](https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2F736x%2Ff0%2Fa7%2Fbd%2Ff0a7bdb01fd63bd3a29f78bd5ad5240a.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fexplore%2Fnatural-hair-hairstyles%2F&docid=UsmwUNGwYyVRDM&tbnid=KUgRXkqHcfcCZM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwjb9_HT1qzTAhXM24MKHT_xBP8QMwhiKCAwIA..i&w=736&h=732&bih=631&biw=1342&q=natural%20hair%20styles&ved=0ahUKEwjb9_HT1qzTAhXM24MKHT_xBP8QMwhiKCAwIA&iact=mrc&uact=8)  
>  is how I envisioned Angel's hair for the dance. I do not have natural hair and I have never styled it so any descriptions I used are from google. Please let me know if I got anything blatantly wrong.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for Angel to explore the world of first love. Neil, predictably, panics.

Angel was quiet at dinnertime. That was Neil’s first clue. She had had a cellphone all along. Andrew had insisted that they be able to contact her if they needed to but she tended to take more after Neil in terms of cellphone use. It was almost always either off or dead and she would usually take hours to answer back unless she needed a ride or a snack. 

So when Angel brushed off Neil’s question about her day with a “fine” and then to look down at her phone and smile, he was immediately suspicious. And he didn’t get less suspicious as the notifications kept coming.

Andrew seemed perfectly content to sit and eat his spaghetti and meatballs and slip pieces under the table to Sir and King. And Neil had sat through plenty of silent meals with Andrew because sometimes Andrew didn’t want to talk, but that hadn’t happened since Angel had started living with them. She had always been one for filling the silences with chatter.

She didn’t look distressed, the opposite, in fact. And Neil was alright with waiting for her to come to him if she needed to talk. There wasn’t a lot that was off limits. And so Neil choked down his questions along with his supper.

Neil cleared the plates from the table and Angel didn’t pop up to help. And Andrew grabbed a tub of ice cream out of the freezer and three spoons and plopped them on the table at equal distance from the three of them but Angel didn’t immediately grab her spoon and sword fight Andrew for the first bite. Instead her phone lit up again and she looked down at it, blushed, and fucking giggled. And Neil couldn’t take it anymore.

“Who are you texting?” he tried to ask casually.

Angel looked up, her eyes wide. “No one. Just a classmate. A friend.”

Andrew raised one eyebrow. “Which is it?”

“Um...a friend, I guess,” Angel blushed.

Andrew’s eyes narrowed. “What’s his name?”

“Joshua.” Her cheeks got impossibly redder.

“And does he know how many knives I have on my person at all times?” Andrew grinned humourlessly.

“Oh my god, I don’t know that. You guys are so embarrassing,” she shouted before snatching the tub of ice cream off the table and running up to her room.

Andrew stood and grabbed another pint from the freezer and kept eating.

“She’s texting a boy? What are we going to do?” Neil asked incredulously. 

Andrew shrugged. “Was bound to happen eventually.”

“Well yeah, but now? She’s fifteen!” Neil put his head in his hands.

“Not everyone waits as long as you, Neil,” Andrew mumbled around a giant mouthful of ice cream. 

Neil winced, a little surprised that Andrew wasn’t clutching his forehead from brain freeze. “How are you so calm?”

“I know you don’t get out much but I thought you were paying attention to at least a few of those cheesy movies we always end up watching. The real question is why are you freaking out?” Andrew kept eating steadily.

“What if he doesn’t treat her right? What if he doesn’t understand consent? She’s just a kid.”

“She’s your kid,” Andrew said softly.

“Our kid,” Neil corrected automatically. “And what does that have to do with anything?”

Andrew looked at him with heat in his eyes. He stabbed the spoon into the tub so it stood up in the ice cream and shoved his chair back. He leaned over Neil, crowding him into the chair. “It means she’ll only say yes if she means it.” Andrew captured Neil’s mouth in a blistering kiss. “And if he tries to take something she doesn’t want to give, she’ll open that mouth and tear him apart.”

Neil just sat in the chair, gasping, trying desperately to hold on to some semblance of thought. Andrew produced a knife from somewhere and slammed it into their heavily scarred tabletop. “And if he doesn’t get the picture,” Andrew whispered, sending chills through Neil’s body. “I’ll do what I have to do.”

Andrew suddenly stood up and backed away, leaving Neil chasing after his warmth. “Now are you going to sit here panicking or are you going to take advantage of an evening of our daughter hiding in her room and come to bed with me?”

Neil clambered out of his chair, nearly tripped on the table leg, and all but threw himself at Andrew. 

After, Andrew lay sprawled out on his back in front of their open balcony doors, smoking He had pulled his black boxers back on but otherwise, all that skin was exposed to Neil’s gaze. It was still so rare for Andrew to display himself like this and Neil couldn’t take his eyes off him, skin shining in the last glow of sunset. It was autumn and the nights were growing cold but there was enough of the heat of the day left that Andrew didn’t need to cover up.

“Do you feel better?” Andrew smirked.

Neil sighed from his place on the bed. He had yet to catch his breath and he sprawled, mirroring Andrew, not even reaching for the sheet. He also hadn’t found the energy to clean up and instead just lay there, completely bare, come still painting his chest. “Always,” he whispered.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Stop looking at me like that.”

Neil flopped over and propped himself up on his elbow. “Like what?”

“Like you’ve got all these disgustingly sappy things to say,” Andrew said, casually covering his eyes with his arm.

“I could close my eyes and say them instead,” Neil teased. “I think you’re gorgeous. Sometimes I daydream about kissing you and I forget how to breathe. I love…”

“I hate you,” Andrew interrupted, pulling himself to his feet in one smooth motion and stalking to their en suite. Water ran for a moment and he came back and chucked a wet cloth at Neil’s face. “Clean yourself up before you glue yourself to the sheets.”

Neil grins. “You have no one to blame but yourself for this, you know.”

Andrew glares down at him before leaning over and kissing him softly. “I know,” he replied.

Neil read Andrew’s look and rolled fully onto his side, pulling his arms and legs in close to his body. Andrew climbed in over him and arranged himself carefully with his back to the wall. He reached his right arm into the space between them and that was Neil’s cue to roll in closer until a flicker in Andrew’s eyes told him to stop. 

Andrew fell asleep almost immediately but Neil couldn’t shut his brain off. It kept running through all the worst case scenarios. He knew that Andrew was also more worried than he pretended. Andrew hadn’t needed this much space between them for sleeping in months. He stealthily pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was a pretty early night for them and so Neil didn’t feel guilty texting Allison.

(9:48) **Neil:** u up?

(9:49) **Allison:** trick question? the night is young!!1!

(9:49) **Neil:** coulda just said yes

(9:50) **Allison:** u love me an u no it. wat do u need?

(9:51) **Neil:** Angel has a boyfriend

(9:51) **Allison:** hahhahhahhahhahhahahh

(9:52) **Neil:** stop this is serious

(9:54) **Allison:** sry wat do u need from ME?!!1!!1

(9:58) **Neil:** can you just i don’t know talk to her?

(10:01) **Allison:** u no im always here for you but why me

(10:05) **Neil:** dan and matt are perfect in love. Andrew hates the whole idea of it. nd u know how fucked up i am. I don’t know how to deal with the wrong person because ive got the right one

(10:06) **Allison:** ahh yes the soulmate. u want angel to get advice from an actual mortal.

(10:07) **Neil:** if u were here youd see my eyes rolling so hard

(10:08) **Allison:** ill b there fri. i was thinking about taking my granddaughter out 4 mnis and pedis so this is perfect.

Neil was about to text back when his phone was rudely ripped from his hands and tossed into the laundry hamper.

“My Neil,” Andrew grumbled from behind him and pulled Neil in tight to his body, wrapping himself around his husband.

Neil smiled and relaxed into Andrew. Finally he could sleep.

* * *

Allison showed up a few days later in a whirlwind of flashing sequins and expensive perfume.

“Grandma Allison!” Angel shouted, barrelling down the stairs to get her hug.

“Really?” Neil shook his head.

Angel exchanged mischievous grins with Allison. “Such sass from your own son. Are you going to let him get away with it?” 

“Normally no, but today, we’ve got an appointment with fashion. I will discipline my son later,” Allison ruffled Neil’s hair and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. She nodded briefly at Andrew’s acknowledgement of her presence and dragged Angel out the door to the waiting rental car.

And then the house was quiet until the two girls came back with rhinestones on their fingers and toes and Angel in a brand new, bright blue dress.

“How did it go?” Neil asked nervously once he managed to get Allison alone.

“You have a bright little girl there. I didn’t have much to say. We covered all the bases, talked about consent and protection, You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m not saying she’s never going to fuck anything up but she knows she’s got people to come to if anything is ever too much for her to handle. So my advice? Leave her to it. Let her make her own mistakes. And trust her,” Allison said gently.

Neil let out the breath he had been holding since he first heard about Angel’s boyfriend. “Thanks, Allison. I really appreciate it.”

“For the record, I think you could have handled this one yourself. You gotta trust yourself a little more, Josten,” Allison pulled him into a hug. “Now let’s go eat supper. Angel said Andrew made his famous lasagne and death by chocolate for dessert and a day of retail therapy does work up an appetite.”

“I’m right behind you,” Neil said.

* * *

A painfully nervous young man by the name of Joshua Martinez joined them for dinner the following day. Angel was back to chattering and the kid watched her, completely enthralled with every word that came out of her mouth. Neil didn’t really like the kid but he did his best not to be embarrassing and to keep Andrew from pulling knives at the dinner table. It was awkward and Neil definitely never wanted to go through the experience again.

After dessert, Angel walked him to the door and said goodbye. She walked back into the living room where Neil and Andrew were already settled and plopped herself down into Neil’s lap, dumping her feet in Andrew’s.

“I don’t think I’m ready to call him my boyfriend,” she confided. “He’s pretty nice but he’s kinda suffocating and Allison told me I’ve got to be my own woman first. Can I just tell him no?”

“Yes,” Andrew and Neil said simultaneously.

Angel nodded thoughtfully. “Good. You know, you’re pretty awesome at this dad thing so far” Then she threw her arms around Neil’s neck and squeezed tightly. She hopped up again to put in the next disc of Justice League cartoons and then curled up on the floor with the cats.

Neil felt like he had dodged a bullet. He looked over at Andrew to see his husband staring at him.

Andrew leaned over and whispered in his ear. “You know this is just beginning.”


End file.
